Choosing who builds your software is one of the higher-stakes decisions a growing business makes — and it's often made under time pressure, based on a proposal and a gut feeling. A few questions can tell you more than a polished pitch deck.
Ask how they handle scope changes. Every real project changes shape as it's built. A partner who has a clear, calm process for handling that is more valuable than one who promises it won't happen.
Ask who you'll actually be talking to day-to-day, and whether that person will still be involved a month in. A great initial sales conversation followed by a junior team you never hear from again is a common and costly pattern.
Ask what happens after launch. A partner who disappears the moment the invoice is paid is optimizing for a different outcome than a partner who wants to still be working with you next year.
Ask to see how they explain technical decisions in plain language. If a team can't explain why they're recommending a particular approach without jargon, that's often a sign they can't fully explain it to themselves either.
Finally, trust the process more than the promises. A partner with a clear, structured way of working — discovery, scoping, milestones, testing, handover — is showing you how they'll actually behave once the contract is signed, not just what they're willing to say to win the deal.